Table of contents
The Short Version
Wild Apricot has been around since 2004. It powers over 60,000 organisations worldwide. It is a mature, capable platform with strong event tools and a built-in website builder.
TidyHQ is Australian-built, prices in AUD, supports BPay and POLi, and integrates natively with Xero. It was designed for the way Australian clubs and associations actually operate.
Both are good products. The question is which one fits your organisation.
Pricing: The Currency Problem
Wild Apricot bills in USD. For a 200-member club on the Professional plan, that is roughly $115 USD per month. At current exchange rates, that lands around $178 AUD. Add credit card forex fees of 2-3% and you are looking at $2,200 AUD per year.
TidyHQ Standard is $149 AUD per month. That is $1,788 per year, or $1,491 with the annual discount. No exchange rate risk. No surprise conversion fees on your statement.
The difference is $400-700 per year. For a volunteer-run club, that is real money.
Wild Apricot also charges a 1% transaction fee on top of your payment gateway fees. TidyHQ does not. If your club processes $20,000 in membership fees annually, that is another $200 per year.
Support Hours
This is the one that catches people. Wild Apricot support operates on US Pacific time. That is 8am-5pm PT, which translates to midnight-9am AEST.
Your treasurer is trying to set up renewal invoices at 7pm on a Tuesday. She has a question. Wild Apricot support opens in five hours. TidyHQ support was available all day during Australian business hours.
For volunteer-run organisations where people work on club admin in the evenings and weekends, timezone matters more than feature lists.
Xero Integration
About 60% of Australian nonprofits and clubs use Xero for accounting. TidyHQ has a native, one-click Xero integration. Invoices and payments sync automatically.
Wild Apricot does not integrate with Xero directly. You need Zapier as a bridge, which costs around $30 USD per month and requires configuration. Or you export CSV files and import them manually.
If your treasurer already uses Xero, this is often the deciding factor.
Australian Payment Methods
TidyHQ supports Stripe, PayPal, BPay, and POLi. BPay matters for older members who prefer bank transfers. POLi matters for organisations that want direct debit without credit card fees.
Wild Apricot supports Stripe and Authorize.net. No BPay. No POLi. Credit card or PayPal only.
For a football club where half the members are over 50, having BPay as an option is not a nice-to-have. It is the difference between getting paid and chasing invoices.
Where Wild Apricot Wins
Wild Apricot has a better website builder. If you need a public-facing site with member login, event listings, and content pages all in one platform, Wild Apricot does this well.
Wild Apricot has more advanced event tools. Multi-session conferences with concurrent tracks, speaker management, and session-level registration. If you run large annual conferences, these features are worth the premium.
Wild Apricot has a larger user community. More forum posts, more third-party guides, more YouTube tutorials. For self-directed learners, this matters.
Where TidyHQ Wins
Committee and governance tools. TidyHQ has built-in meeting agendas, minutes, action items, task assignments, and document storage. Wild Apricot users typically bolt on Google Workspace or Trello for this.
ACNC compliance. TidyHQ has Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission reporting built in. Wild Apricot requires manual configuration.
Simplicity. TidyHQ was designed for the volunteer who has 30 minutes on a Sunday night. The learning curve is measured in minutes, not hours.
All features at every tier. TidyHQ does not gate features behind higher plans. You get everything at Starter. Wild Apricot reserves some features for higher tiers.
The Migration Question
Switching from Wild Apricot to TidyHQ takes 2-3 weeks. Export your member list as CSV, import into TidyHQ, configure your membership levels and payment gateways, connect Xero, and train your committee. TidyHQ includes migration assistance at no extra cost.
Switching the other way takes 3-4 weeks and costs more per year.
The Decision
Choose Wild Apricot if you run complex multi-track conferences, want an integrated website builder, and are comfortable with US support hours and USD billing.
Choose TidyHQ if you are an Australian club or association that values local support, AUD pricing, Xero integration, BPay payments, and committee management tools.
For about 90% of Australian clubs, TidyHQ delivers better value. Not because Wild Apricot is bad. Because TidyHQ was built for the way Australian organisations work.
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